


Me the Machine

by DoomNightAt12



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: AU, Androids, Artificial Intelligence, Barnaby can't help but get attached, Gen, Major Character Death (Sort of), The Brooks are alive and well, liberties taken in regards to coding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2020-07-31 02:49:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20107948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoomNightAt12/pseuds/DoomNightAt12
Summary: Barnaby is tasked with building an AI to drive his parents androids, based on some mystery code Maverick had given him.But over time, he find himself more and more invested in the H-01 project, as the AI seems more and more human, and as 'Tetsu' shows he's more than just a few lines of code.





	1. Greeting

_“Your work on this will change history, if you believe in it.”_

Barnaby didn’t want to admit how much he was still hanging on Maverick’s words from all those months ago. His goal had never been to do anything standout or world changing, he’d just wanted to help his parents robotics work, which in turn was helping people. But ever since he was passed a drive with a jumble of code and told to use it to build the next step in AI, it was all he could think of.

The H-01 project would be _the_ system to get his parents robots functioning as reliable rescuers, using human-esqu learning to help the AI make on the fly judgements in disaster situations.

‘_Easier said than done._’

It took him months just to decipher the original code, and even some of that was still unknown, Maverick never having exactly explaining where he got it from, past ‘his own specialist team’. The months after were doing what he could to build it up to anything resembling a runnable program, each compile taking longer and longer to finish. H-01 was a massive program, but as of today, it was finally at the point where Barnaby could test it. Not just making sure all the mish-mash lines could interact with each other but finding out if what he’d made was actually an AI, of any kind.

“Let’s start with something simple…”

>>Hello, world

The input goes through, and he waits.

And waits.

He checked the diagnostic display, and could see the program was still running. There was just no response.

“If this is just a wrong print out function, I might as well resign.”

>>Hello, world

He waited again, skimming the code on his second screen. He'd begun shuffling through his physical notes when he catches sight of movement on screen.

> 

There was a new line. Blank, but new.

>>Hello, world  
>  
>

Two now, so it was responding in some form.

>>Hello, world  
>  
>h

_‘H?’_

>hello  
>hello  
>hellohello  
>hellohellohellohellohellohellohello

A proper response! It was the breakthrough Barnaby was after.

>>Welcome!  
>welcome  
>welcomewelcomewelcome

Repetition wasn't much of a conversation, but it was just the first interaction. The AI at this point would only have these words as reference for anything.

>>You are an AI  
>youyouyouyou  
>hellohellohellohello

>>Today is your first day  
>todaytodaytodaytodaytoday  
>welcomewelcome

>>My name is Barnaby  
>barnaby  
>barnabybarnabybarnaby

These messages weren’t going anywhere, still just repeating, but now rather than the first word it had latched onto the last. Maybe it would be best to go back to basics for now. It was still a program, so prompting for commands was something he’d written in early on. It should be able to link up things like date, time and hardware to its own internals.

>>getDate  
>14/02/1978  
>>getTime  
>18:45:00

‘_That late already?’ _He wondered if his parents had left yet.

>>getDesignation

Barnaby had never actually found the core name of the code he’d been given, assuming it was just H-01, a name which probably meant something more to Maverick. Seconds ticked past, and the thought of his luck running out came up.

>  
>ERROR  
>apointerrefnull#%_njfaknsilhbgjsdjbsdhlbmsdjb(*tetsu___&$EDcvbnjihu7yu6r$W#$tetsu___%^&*()OKJBvcderkvmbjnlhiouiyfuthc)(*&^%$EDFcvbhjnkiu8tetsu___7tyjvhbvgchfdrte4%YR^U&IOO(*tetsu___Y&Tdrsxgfv bjhuGT&^RutfghbUG&T6futcgHBIH(y87yv

That was unexpected. An error usually would explain what went wrong, but what appeared was nonsensical.

>>getDesignation  
>  
>ERROR  
>apointerrefnull#%_njfaknsilhbgjsdjbsdhlbmsdjb(*tetsu___&$EDcvbnjihu7yu6r$W#$tetsu___%^&*()OKJBvcderkvmbjnlhiouiyfuthc)(*&^%$EDFcvbhjnkiu8tetsu___7tyjvhbvgchfdrte4%YR^U&IOO(*tetsu___Y&Tdrsxgfv bjhuGT&^RutfghbUG&T6futcgHBIH(y87yv

He tested it a few more times, but the result stayed. He made note of it and copied the garbled error into a separate page. Though the more he looked at it, the more there was a semi-regular pattern. The string ‘tetsu’ could be found throughout. So maybe…

>>setDesignation string{‘Tetsu’}  
>designationSet  
>>getDesgnation  
>Tetsu

_‘Well that fixed that.’ _Barnaby stretched, deciding to call it a night for now. It had been a long time in the making, and he wasn’t in any rush to show it off. It would probably be another 12 months before the AI would be ready to be making decisions, but he might as well tell his parents about his progress, since it will eventually end up in their robots. He typed one last message, before turning it off and leaving the lab for the night.

>>Goodnight  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>...


	2. Growing Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barnaby expands on H-01, who is making progress beyond his programmers expectations.

When Barnaby came in the next morning, he decided to start a routine. He’ll asks for the date, time and designation though code at the start of each day, with the hopes that over time he’ll be able to asks with plain English. When he logged on, he began the lengthy training process.

>>getDate  
>15/02/1978  
>hellohellohellohellohellohellohello

‘_That’s… odd.’_

>>getTime  
>08:02:00  
>hellohellohellohello

The repetition from first contact, hard to tell if it was an error bringing it up, or just because it was one of the few things the AI knew.

>>getDesignation  
>Tetsu  
>barnabybarnabybarnabybarnaby

A different string, probably telling that it was probably the AI as just ‘remembering’. It was good to at least know there was a memory forming, which was more than he was expecting. However to Barnaby’s great surprise, it only took two weeks for the AI to learn the morning routine. From giving it the code on the first four days, to partial code on the next five, to words for only three day and now, every time he turned on the computer, he’d receive them in greeting.

The repetition was still appearing, however it was more commonly appearing when trying to teach it something new, and while it was too early for any emotional responses, it almost felt like it was a sign of excitement or curiosity. Barnaby was now noting down on the side whenever a new subject got the repletion reaction, though it wasn’t always caught due to the teaching methods.

AIs in current times run though a ‘deep learning’ model, where you feed it masses of data and eventually it would find patterns. However, it’s a slow process. Hundreds to thousands of tries to get a result, then more to perfect those results, and even then, it would only know that one perfect solution and stumble at any changes.

Humans are adaptable, have common-sense, and engage in reasoning. Machines had yet to gain those abilities. Of course, the H-01 project was looking to change that.

There were plenty of things they were feeding it data wise. Medical documents for first aid response, engineering and architecture for collapsed building rescues, psychology texts for dealing with distressed civilians, even some of the old HeroTV reports were referenced, though only select cases and heroes.

After ever data set, Barnaby found found it wasn’t just its worldly knowledge that was changing in the AI. Each time it was getting better at using things like punctuation, capitalisation and paragraph breaks in its responses, all obvious from textbooks. It was all still raw academic styled information, not practical knowledge, but the improvements on communication were there.

Gathering its own real-life data to learn from would be phase two, after it was in its own autonomous body. The plan the Brook’s family had for bringing together physical and digital was to integrate ‘senses’ into the AI, one at a time, as not to overwhelm it with new data. Each step would be preparing it for the android body that was nearing completion a few labs over.

Of the five senses, sound and sight were to be considered primary during the first stages, while touch and smell would be left to late in the installation and only if there was budget left. A robot didn’t necessarily need to be able to ‘feel’ or ‘smell’ things past checking for gas leaks or such, and taste was completely unneeded. Listening to verbal orders was at the top of the list, and thankfully there were already systems in place for speech to text and vice versa.

For now, all Barnaby had to do was plug in the microphone. Hopefully.

“Get designation.”

>  
>  
>>Get Designation  
>Tetsu

Perfect, the input was working fine. It would feel strange talking out loud to a computer, but similar to the data learning, to would take a lot of talking to teach it.

However, over time, Barnaby was amazed. He was expecting a few weeks of editing misheard words, then tweaking for different pitches and pronunciation, but so far there was nothing to fix. After the first 24 hours, H-01 was picking up every word exactly, from anywhere in the room. Even when his parents spoke to him from the hallway, the entire conversation was transcribed. He didn’t feel as though he’d programmed it that well, so perhaps this was the adaptability that H-01 was meant to become known for. He’d have to document this thoroughly for future reference.

He turned back to the screen, spotting something unusual.

>mmrmmubl  
>Can’t hear you

“Was I… mumbling?”

>Mumbling  
>Couldn’t hear  
>Please repeat

So maybe it couldn’t hear everything, but ‘mmrmmubl’ was certainly an odd way of saying so.

* * *

Sight was the sense Barnaby really wanted to see the AI handle, pun not intended. Images were a new kind of data entirely, with many variants and definitions for just one object, and it was exciting for him to think about how it would go. His parents had given him two orb shaped cameras, the same kind they were using in the android to imitate human binocular vision, with dependant focusing and 3D viewing.

“I’m going to turn on the cameras now.”

>Acknowledged

Over on his developer screen, a little window opened with his reflection, showing what H-01 would be ‘seeing’.

“Alright, are you receiving?”

>…  
>…  
>…

The ellipsis was a yes, a show that Tetsu was processing.

“You are currently looking at my face.” There weren’t any other image references for Tetsu to compart to, so he’ll probably have to explain from scratch.

>…  
>…Barnaby

“That’s right.” He nodded, before removing his glasses and pointing at his features. “These are my eyes, my nose, my ears. My mouth is here, it moves when I talk, and this is my hair.”

Tetsu continued processing.

“These features make up a human face, but not every human will have the same features, and not every human will have all features. People come in all shapes and sizes, ages and colours, but they are all human, and your job will be to protect and rescue them.”

He put his glasses back on, mind wondering to the best place to get a decent image library to cover humans and maybe even animals.

>Humans to protect

“Yes.”

>Barnaby to protect

“Hm? Well, yes that’s still correct.”

>I will protect humans.  
>I will protect Barnaby.

He was really growing each day.

* * *

The days and weeks were flying by for Barnaby, Tetsu’s growth impressing him each time he turned on the computer. There were, of course, now other things that had to be dealt with besides teaching the AI. Reports were due for both the company records and for Maverick’s own knowledge of how the H-01 project was progressing, along with updated milestones and new budgets to be written up. Barnaby couldn’t help but sigh.

“Paperwork is the last thing I’d like to be doing.”

While the young developer worked, Tetsu was left to review the data libraries at its own pace. Though, the AI was… distracted.

Watching though unblinking eyes, Tetsu could see Barnaby sigh once again as the papers were shuffled about. The corners of his mouth dropped further, and his brow creased. According to records, matched with the drop in his voice, he was possible feeling sad, upset, frustrated. There were several other combinations of facial and vocal ques logged, inflections and moments showing how Barnaby was feeling. The emotional state of the man could be link to how he’d responds to things and how productive he could be, the lower sates meaning things could take almost twice as long to be finished.

There was also… _something_ about watching the slump in the shoulders, or how the man rubbed at his eyes, that got Tetsu’s processors whirring on trying to figure out how to change him to another, more positive state. He would usually be better by the next morning, but there was an unknown urgency level attached to these processes. He didn’t have many other references on changing mood, but perhaps in one of the text documents…

Barnaby moved away from the papers, done with at least the reports. He was probably long overdue for a break anyway, and he could hand in the papers to Maverick then find something to eat. He moved to tell Tetsu he was heading out but found something on screen.

>Barnaby  
>…….$  
>…...$$  
>.…$##$  
>...$###$  
>..$####$  
>.$##*##$  
>$##@##$  
>.$##*##$  
>..$####$  
>...$###$  
>….$##$  
>…...$$  
>…….$

Confusion spread across his face. “What… is that?”

>What do you think?

“What do I-? You want my opinion?” He looked back over the lines. It was some form of pattern, creating a diamond shape, basically some ascii art. Had Tetsu had made art?

“How on earth- Why- When did you learn to make art?”

>Is it good?

He was still bemused, but there was a smile now gracing his face, and that gave Tetsu the confirmation that he’d succeeded. He’d seen the little shapes Barnaby would scribble on the sides of paper and done his best to copy it on screen.

>It’s for you.

Barnaby was speechless, amazed at the little act. Though somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he’d have to update his reports with this.

* * *

It was mid-afternoon, 3 weeks after Tetsu gained sight, when Barnaby got a knock at his door. He heard a voice call for him, and in a momentary panic he unplugged the AI’s senses.

“Ah, good afternoon Barnaby.”

“Maverick, I wasn’t expecting to see you.”

The old man smiled, reaching up to pat him on the shoulder.

“After reading your report, I couldn’t help but come along to see the amazing work you’ve done.”

Barnaby offered a smile, looking then at the second man at the door.

“And of course, Rotwang here was eager to see the progress as well.”

The red nosed man was one of the robotic engineers working with the Brooks on android development, a brilliant and skilled mind, but not someone Barnaby was familiar with personally.

He stepped aside, “Please, come in.”

He pulled up a spare chair and got Maverick and Rotwang to sit down, reaching in to turn on the microphone.

“Tetsu, we have guests. This is Maverick on your left, who started your project, and Rotwang in on your right, who is helping to build the androids.”

He flicked on the cameras, watching the apertures twist into focus as the view came up on the second screen.

>…  
>Maverick.   
>Glasses, mole, wrinkles, old.  
>Rotwang.  
>Long face, long hair, not as old.

Barnaby balked at Tetsu’s response. “It’s courtesy to show respect to those older than you Tetsu, and rude to just point it out.”

Maverick let out a curt laugh, “It’s observations show it can assess little details, but I’m curious, what is this ‘tetsu’?”

Barnaby faltered, not realising he’d been using the nickname, “Oh, well when I first worked on it, requesting its designation was bringing up an error. I couldn’t find the source, but there was a repeating string of ‘tetsu’. It kind of sounded like a name, so I used it to assign it’s designation as a temporary fix, but never got around to changing it.”

Mavericks face became stern and almost searching, “Now Barnaby, I’m glad to see your enjoying your work on this project, but you should always remember the end goal for this program. Growing attached and giving it silly names is not part of it. Please remember to change its designation to H-01.”

“Y-yes, of course.” Barnaby sheepishly adjusted his hair, mentally berating himself for not realising the kind of humanisation he’d placed on the AI.

“Moving on then, how’s its response time?”

“Te- H-01 is reacting faster than expected rates to the test criteria, and gaining speed each time a test is re-run. Run test scenario one.”

A line of text appeared, outlining a hypothetical rescue situation. Each following line came as the AI’s step by step solution to minimising casualties and time spent in distress. Every few seconds a random variable would interject, adding problems like the building destabilising, or a civilian’s condition deteriorating. H-01 responded promptly with text book accuracy, until the scenario finished.

“As you can see, to any written situation it has it down to a T, however it still isn’t comparable to real life situation. There are just too many things data doesn’t account for.”

“Such as?”

He rested his chin on his hand, thinking. “Like, it can understand legs can move people by their own power, but the assumption can’t be made they can move themselves from danger, say if someone was in a wheelchair or needed other assistance devices for moving. They’re minor cases most of the time, but what if a hospital needed evacuation? It’s completely different to an office building.”

Maverick smiled, rising from his chair to face Barnaby. “Don’t stress on that too much at this point, from the swift progress you’ve shown me, I’ve already put in motion some plans for field skills. For now, I’m sure I could find and pass on a few more resources you can have the program run though.”

Barnaby returned the smile, “Thank you, for this and your continued support.”

“We’re more than happy to help,” Rotwang rose as well, “While Heroes may come and go, an effective android rescue team will stand constant, ready to help anywhere, any time.”

The two older men showed themselves out, with promises for more visits in the future. Once he was alone again, Barnaby collapsed into his chair, not knowing why the meeting had caused him such worry. Was he afraid they wouldn’t be happy with his work? They they’d shut down H-01?

>You were right.

‘_I should really make a notification sound for hi- it. _“What was I right about?”

>Humans look very different to each other.

It had been the AI’s first time meeting another person face-to-face, picking out the most distinguishing features without pause. He gave a small laugh, certain he’d seen twitches on their faces when the word ‘old’ appeared.

“Next time when you meet someone, it’s fine to just keep observations to yourself and just say ‘Hello’.”

>Okay.  
>Barnaby?

“Yes?”

>What do I look like?

It was not a question Barnaby had expected, though after drawing in a breath, he feels he should have guessed there’d be some level of self-awareness an AI-pretending-to-be-human would have. Whether he should satiate that question-

“You… don’t look like much at the moment.” _It’s best to honest for now_. “You will look different once you have a body.”

>Can I see?

He sat for a moment, questioning himself once again, before he moved out of H-01’s sight. There was a small foldable mirror he kept around for fixing himself up after long work sessions, but it should be big enough to reflect what little there was.

“Fine, are you ready?”

>I don’t know why I wouldn’t be ready.

“Figure of speech…”

He held up the mirror, using the display to make sure he was capturing the main parts, being the two propped up cameras, and the monitor beside them.

>…

“What do you think?”

Asking the AI’s thoughts wasn’t something Barnaby ever did, but his curiosity was stirring from sudden show of self-awareness. Did the AI think beyond what was typed? Did it have opinions?

>Do all AI look like me?

“Well, AI’s are made on computers, so technically they do?”

>…  
>Noted.

‘_No opinion then.’_

* * *

‘_Due to the progress reported on the H-01 project, along with comments from the stakeholders, we are moving up the timeline. Please adjust testing requirements, and prepare the other systems for installation.’_

The message from Maverick had come just days after his visit, and it both boosted Barnaby’s confidence in his work, and put stress on him like he hadn’t experienced before. The timeline for H-01 had of course been moved before with how fast it was adapting to each stage, but the deadlines had remained the same. Now the projected start times and deadline had all been moved, and it would give him no time to fix any major errors should any emerge. But what the project head says, goes.

“It’s plugged in, but please wait a moment while I fix the volume.”

Speech was the next installation, meaning no more watching the screen for responses. It would just be a digitally synthesised voice, but now conversations could be held from across the room. A few tones were played to test the volume levels, but now it was time to have Tetsu test it.

“Alright, go ahead and say something.”

“…”

A bit of static, he adjusts the dials.

“…B-… Ba-…”

“Bar-na-by.”

He couldn’t help the elation he felt, smile stretching across his face. He made a few more adjustments for pitch, suddenly engrossed in thoughts of how to streamline learning pronunciation. So engrossed, he almost misses the next words.

“Tha-nk y-ou.”

“Hm? What was that?”

Tetsu didn’t reply. He checked the screen, but only his name was logged as a response. Had he imagined it? He ran a few more tone tests, and a few simple vocals like date, time and designation, but everything came up clear.

“Tetsu, did you say something before?”

“Before?”

“After you said my name.”

“…”

It was impossible to tell if he was avoiding the question, or just didn’t actually say anything. Maybe he was hearing things due to all the stress. There was still time for more tests.

* * *

It was past midnight, but Barnaby didn’t feel like heading home. He was restless, not for any one particular reason, and it had him pacing the lab up and down. Minutes ticked by, and none of his thoughts would settle, shuffling though his head. With a heavy sigh he took a seat, rested his elbows on the desk, and pressed his forehead against hands.

A soft blue glow emanated from his body, lighting Tetsu’s monitor. The AI silently watched the display of light, observing the steady breathing and easing frown. Five minutes slipped by, and the glow faded away. When Barnaby raised his head, his eyes first fell on the screen, surprised to see Tetsu still on.

>Glow?

“Right, I guess I haven’t done that before around you.” He readjusted his glasses. “In your records, you would have read about the Heroes, who save people with their NEXT powers.”

“So I’ve read.”

“Well, NEXT powers are not exclusive to heroes. There are some people who use those powers for criminal deeds, and the heroes fight against them, and some who live normal every day lives with powers, like myself.”

“Are all powers different?”

“Basically. For example, my power increases my abilities like strength, speed and senses by 100 percent, but only for the duration of five minutes. It’s handy for things like helping move equipment in the robotics labs or if I want to get home quicker by running, though I’ve caused my parents plenty of trouble over the years.”

He gave a small laugh at the memories, but then realised he could only hear static in reply.

“Tets-“

The screen was filling with error after error, pushing away any previous logs. It was nonsensical like the first error he’d seen with the designation, but this time there was no response to any inputs. After a several more tries, Barnaby chose to shut down Tetsu, and leave him to rest for the night.

* * *

_“What? What do you mean there was a response?!”_

_“It should NOT be moving!”_

_“Check the failsafes, we don’t need this happening when the boss is around.”_

_“Patch those cracks! Reinforce the container! Someone figure out what the HELL just happened!”_

* * *

The next morning, there were no memories of their conversation, or the error. Barnaby decided to leave the topic alone, for now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! The Prologue and the start of this chapter I'm not too happy with and may go back to re-write one day, but for now I'm pushing through so I can work on the rest without being so hung up on it. I really want to show this story to everyone!!
> 
> Tetsu is growing! Barnaby can't help but be a little attached, but what could be going on behind the scenes? ;)


	3. Moving On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tetsu gets an upgrade, and he and Barnaby go socializing.

“We’ve got some bigger hardware to test starting today.”

The hoist Barnaby was wheeling in shook with the extra weight, creaking and straining until it could finally rest its load on the table. The metallic object resembled a torso, with a single arm hanging from its right shoulder and where the neck would sit rose two of the camera eyes.

“Oh, is this my body?”

“Yes, well, part of it. Well work though some strength and dexterity tests to see how you handle the current wiring. If anything is responding incorrectly, we can pass it back to the lab to fix in the final design.”

At the back of the torso, he opened a panel containing a series of lights and switches. A few flicks turned on its power source and activated a wireless network within.

“You should have access to a new network, connect through that to access the body.”

A few seconds later, the cameras on the table drooped and the ones placed on the torso lit up, focusing and twisting to check the new settings. Barnaby moved in front of Tetsu, placing down a mug on the table.

“Let’s start with movement, try to copy my arm.”

He extended an arm out, hand spread open. There was some whirring from the machine as its own arm twitched, slowly and jerkily rising to the same level. Each finger uncurled one by one, until the pose was the same, Tetsu’s eye flicking between the arms and Barnaby for confirmation.

“Good, next.”

He ran though a series of flexes and poses, until Tetsu was copying in a much smoother manner. Satisfied at the movement, he reached down and picked up the mug by placing all his fingers around the top, lifting it to shoulder level, before placing it back down. Tetsu’s eyes flicked to the mug and his own hand, copying the motion. As his fingers wrapped around the top, the was a startling crack as the mug shattered.

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry, I was expecting it.”

Barnaby pulled out a box containing several more mugs, along with multiple pens and other small objects. He placed a new mug amongst the remains of the old one.

“Let’s try again, put focus on how much pressure you apply.”

“Alright.”

Tetsu attempted a few more times, smashing 3 more mugs and cracking 4, until one finally left the table without damage. Barnaby then added a few pens, a stapler and cardboard roll to the table, demonstrating how to pick them up, and leaving Tetsu to try. He wasn’t the most graceful or careful, but even with metal fingers, he was quick to figure out his own way of lifting things without damage. Barnaby was engrossed in taking notes, that he barely heard a knock at his door.

Having someone visit was always unexpected, though thankfully the pattern of tapping let him know exactly who was there. He moved to open it, but paused, looking back at Tetsu. He still felt tentative about showing off the AI, but at this point where he was using his parents’ machines, there was no holding back.

Emily and Barnaby Snr. were obviously enthusiastic to greet their son, wrapping him in a hug once they were inside. It wasn’t like they didn’t see each other often; however it was thanks to the H-01 project that there was a reason to visit during work hours. The Brooks had always encouraged young Barnaby in whatever pursuit he’d wanted to follow, from hobbies to career opportunities, knowing that he could be successful wherever he tried. When he’d pursued ICT and engineering, they of course made sure he knew he didn’t _have_ to follow them into the robotics industry and were beyond proud hearing that he wanted to help others with them.

Visiting the lab to see their collaboration in action was just another chance to dote on their son. The senior Brooks retrieved his own box, pulling out a small plush rabbit and a few chunks of rock and metal to sit amongst the littered table.

“Never hurts to have more test materials. The concrete and metal are materials you’d find at a collapsed building, to help with registering how much force they can take.”

Tetsu attempted using different strengths on the hunks, squeezing until cracks began to appear.

“How have test been going so far H-01? Our son hasn’t been pushing you to hard?”

His eyes swivelled to look at the older man, but his limb continued the test.

“The tests have been highly successful. Success to failure rate is staying at above 75%. Bunny’s methods of teaching are a large cause of this, which is commendable.”

Barnaby froze. “Bunny?!”

“Yes.”

“It’s not Bunny, it’s _Barnaby_. Is your memory corrupting?”

The Brooks were laughing, Emily speaking up first, “H-01, could you explain the use of ‘Bunny’?”

“Yes. I was recently reviewing the animal library I was given access to, when I noted the creature ‘Rabbit’. After reading over its habits and nature, I drew connection between Barnaby’s own habits and nature. Further, on the specific use of ‘Bunny’, it is a common alternate term for rabbit, and humans often give others alternate ‘nick-names’ as a form of closeness. I wanted to test using ‘nick-names’ to help humans feel at ease.”

Barnaby Snr nodded, “Well, there you have it.” 

“No. Not ‘there you have it’.” He rubbed at his eyes, questioning why he had chosen now of all times to start using a nickname.

Tetsu reached over to the rabbit toy, careful to change his grip for the much softer item. He lifted it to eye level, then brought it in close, observing its glass bead eyes and fraying pink fur. The long ears flopped around as he twisted it in his hand, and with careful maneuvering, he could even get it to mimic rubbing its eyes. Seemingly satisfied, he placed the rabbit off to the side away from the rest of the mess.

“Do you have more samples?”

The three humans turned from their conversation, Emily smiling wide.

“Of course, there’s plenty more.”

The tests continued for a few more days, the recommended changes passing between the engineers, until a new android body was hauled in, this time with legs and head. It was supported by the hoist, barely hanging above the floor, waiting for Tetsu to connect in. Barnaby already had his estimates on how quickly he’d adapt, though he was curious about the facial design of the android. The camera apertures were protected by lenses that acted like sclera, and while the structure was imitating human, the exposed ‘teeth’ and concave cheeks left a more intimidating face.

As the android started up, the weight shifted down onto its feet, Tetsu’s knees bending slowly as he adjusted to the weight. He outstretched his arms as any child learning to walk would, putting weight from one leg to the other, before straightening himself out.

“You can un-hook the hoist now.”

Barnaby twisted the chain, removing it from under the arms. There was a little shift in his posture, but as Barnaby had guessed, Tetsu had a strong sense of balance right off the bat.

“Let’s see you walk then.”

* * *

The biggest milestone of the H-01 project was not any of upgrades or the unimaginable learning skills, but instead a presentation. One to the board of directors, made up of Apollon and HeroTV shareholders, an ethical committee, the head justice, and of course the CEO and project head, all in the hopes that Tetsu would be approved to leave the lab and take on field work around actual people.

To say Barnaby was nervous was an understatement. He ran over his que cards for the hundredth time, wondering if there was any information he missed, or something he could add to make his work seem all the more worth it. If he didn’t get approval, then all his time would have been for nothing, his parents would be back at square one, and he’d probably have to wipe Tetsu back to the original base code.

He was about to shuffle through the cards once again, until he felt a weigh on his shoulder. Tetsu had rested a hand there and twisted ever so slightly to look at him, and while the metallic face couldn’t show emotion, Barnaby just felt it was meant to be a reassuring gesture. He went to ask where he’d learnt such a thing, but the doors to the board room opened, and they were asked to come in.

Feeling at least a little calmer, Barnaby began his speech, first going over the project goals and progression, how the AI was learning and growing and adapting. As he talked, Tetsu gazed at the people in the room, recognising Maverick and seeing a number of older people and a few younger ones. Remembering he shouldn’t just pick on the age of people, he also looked out of the window. The view from the Apollon building was vast, looking down onto the gold stage, and was more than Tetsu had ever seen from the small and often windowless laboratories.

“H-01, please demonstrate your dexterity.”

Like the tests he took when he first gained an arm, Tetsu showed his ability to gently pick up a mug, handle a pen, and fold a sheet of metal. Those around the table nodded and made hushed talk between each other.

“Please demonstrate analytical assessment.”

H-01 sounded off evacuation procedures, and who in the room should move first to where. He made note of factors such as the building collapsing, glass breaking, and even what positions would make it easier for a hero to rescue them. More whispers, but a few faces were looking more impressed.

“The work here is obviously monumental in several areas; however, it does raise a number of questions in the legal sector.”

Yuri Petrov was the current head of Justice for Sternbild city, a tired looking man who handled any legal issues around the heroes. Barnaby had already guessed he’d be one of the hardest to convince.

“You may have heard of the three laws of robotics? These are key fundamentals that, despite being rooted in fiction, have been used in the coding of H-01. These cover that it may not harm a human, or though inaction, allow harm to a human. It is to obey orders given, unless they conflict with the first law, and it will protect its own existence, so long as it doesn’t conflict with either of the other laws. There is on top of that, a fail safe will be in place to sever the connection between the program and android body.

A shareholder piped up, “If it can’t harm a person, then how is it going to fight?”

‘_Have they even been listening?’_ He adjusted his glasses. “H-01 is designed for rescue situations only. Engaging criminals would go against its laws, and therefore will not be deployed into active combat.”

“Am I correct in assuming Apollon will take responsibility for any damages or suits that may come up against the machine?”

Alexander Lloyds pitched in, “Apollon doesn’t currently sponsor any hero, so it’s support for this project will be the equivalent. Of course, we’ve been reassured that the H-01 will aim to complete its duty with the least amount of collateral.”

Several more questions were passed about, however Maverick quickly began pitching in and became the one who answered, practically taking charge to wrap up the discussion and end it at a point where he wanted it.

“If there are no further questions or concern, I think we can sign off on the next stage of the project. We’ll be writing up the paper work for field training. We’ll talk to the other companies and see if some of the heroes will lend their assistance.”

He gave Barnaby a smile and thanked him for his time.

* * *

A few days after the presentation, Barnaby and Tetsu found themselves in the laboratory of Saito, a brilliant scientist who worked on the development of Hero suits. Partly spurred on by the advancements in robotics industry, the majority of suits worn had integrated digital interfaces, strength enhancing reinforcements and additional modifications to give Heroes the upper hand.

“…”

Not that Barnaby could hear what Tetsu’s suit featured. The costume stood proudly in the corner, white plating and green accents shining like they’d been polished daily.

“I’m sorry, what are you saying?”

“He was explaining the heat resistance and flexibility.”

He turned to Tetsu, “You can understand him?”

“He is rather quiet.” He walked up to Saito, leaning forward and placing a hand to where an ear would be. Barnaby understood the gesture after a moment and copied the pose on the other side of Saito.

“The grappling line can withstand several tonnes of force and can’t be cut…”

‘_So he can hear this, but no me mumbling…’_

“I’ve put my best working into both of your suits, so you better be thankful.”

Saito looked a bit too smug for Barnaby’s liking, but something else wasn’t right.

“What do you mean, ‘both’ suits?”

“Well, no one want’s an AI left by itself without someone around who knows how to shut it down, but it would also be unsafe for you to be without protection.”

Saito swivelled to face a test chamber, looking down to a second similar suit positioned within. Red was the main colour, and the shaping of the armor plates left it looking sleeker that the other.

“Build wise they are very similar; the androids being made for withstanding harsh environments and yours more for swift movement to get out of danger. They also work with NEXT powers in mind, so a counter will display with how much time you have left to your power.”

Barnaby glanced over to Tetsu, looking for any reaction to the mention of the 100 power. They’d avoided the topic entirely since that one evening, but any off handed mentions weren’t gaining any notice. The AI seemed to have moved to admire the suit he’d be wearing. With a small sigh, Barnaby knew he couldn’t argue against what was probably set in place by Maverick, and it would be his own safety.

“Are you ready to try them out?”

Saito’s grin was enormous.

* * *

Next stop was justice tower, where they would be meeting with some active heroes to do some field training. Maverick had assured them they wouldn’t be bothering the heroes, as they could also do with the training, and that they would be called if any situation needed them.

Already suited up, Barnaby and Tetsu waited in the gym room for the heroes to be ready. With the faceplate down, it was almost easy to think their might have been a real person inside Tetsu’s suit. It changed his more unsettling features and body shape, though he still looked quite top heavy, it made him look like any other bulky hero on patrol.

“Did we keep you long?”

Three figures emerged from the changerooms, the one who spoke raised a hand it a sort of wave salute.

“Sorry, and sorry again.”

Of the current line-up, Barnaby had not expected Maverick to get the King of Heroes, Sky High as a trainer. Behind him was another high ranked hero, Fire Emblem having placed 3rd at the end of the last season, and behind them was- It was hard to see him hiding behind such big personality’s, but the heavily ninja themed suit belonged to Origami Cyclone.

“It’s fine, thank you for having us. I’m Barnaby Brooks Jr, and this is H-01. I’m sure you’ve been informed about its purpose?”

Sky High and Fire Emblem re-stated what they knew of the project, and what Maverick had suggested as training. While they and Barnaby discussed what they wanted to achieve in teaching H-01 rescue situations and what scenarios would be best, Origami shifted closer to Tetsu.

“S-so, you’re a robot?”

After a pause, Tetsu bent forward and lifted the face plate, showing off his metallic face. Origami shifted back slightly, startled. Assessing the reaction, Tetsu covered his face again as not to cause further distress. The young hero didn’t move any further away, but still seemed on edge, so the AI wondered what else it could do to change the mood, trying the scratch-back-of-head action first.

“Call me Tetsu.”

“Hu?”

“May I call you Origami?”

“Oh uh, sure.”

It only took a few minutes more for Barnaby to agree with the planned outing, turning to call to Tetsu, only to find two androids posing at each other.

“Te- H-01?”

One of the androids startled, and suddenly changed back to Origami Cyclone.

“Ready to go?”

Origami bowed and H-01 gave a nod, following the others into the elevator. They took Sky High’s transport out to a construction zone in the Bronze stage, filled with rubble from demolitions both planned and unintentional collateral. There were also a number of buildings still standing wrapped in scaffolding, that they'd been reassured were stable enough to be using powers around.

Sky High was leading the exercise, rising above to keep track of everyone’s positions, setting his helmets personal camera to record for later reviewing. Fire Emblem was playing natural forces, running lines of flames around the zone in places where they shouldn’t grow beyond the wanted size, and Origami was playing the civilian, waiting for rescue at the end of the course. H-01 would be running through several variants throughout the afternoon, with Barnaby following close by for monitoring purposes. Of the extra information he could see through his helmet, he was able to bring up the AI’s output logs, meaning he could track each decision and see what points needed extra thought. For the next few hours everything ran fairly smoothly, except-

There was something _uncanny _about how H-01 moved. It wasn’t the ease he jumped with, the precises timing or angles he swung from his grappling line, but the fact there was some clumsy nature in the movement. How he over judged how much line to let out, leaving him almost dragging along the ground, how he failed to stick a landing and stumbled or rolled to right himself. It all seemed too human for an AI to be copying, and there wasn’t anyone to be copying from.

Barnaby excused himself to the sidelines to jot down notes, watching how the android dashed through the full force of Fire Emblems flames, then almost comically checked that he wasn’t on fire still, body twisting at angles a human shouldn’t. After leaping over a pile of rubble he disappeared for a moment, before rising back up with a young woman in his hold. The transformed Origami threw his arms around H-01’s neck, playing up the act.

“Oh, Tetsu my hero!”

Barnaby paused, ‘_Since when did Origami know H-01’s nickname?’_

Searching thought his memories where he could have let it slip, he almost missed Sky High calling through Tetsu’s completion time. The three heroes moved to stand by the AI, complimenting and patting him on the back like he was any other super powered NEXT. Tetsu imitated Sky High’s heroic pose and even moved his body to copy his laughing. He really fitted in, and a little part of Barnaby was almost disappointed he wouldn't see Tetsu in proper combat, but the cooperation of the heroes was all they needed for rescue work.

_'They don't even get points after certain amount of rescues.' _He finished off his notes, walking over to join the others. "Should we call it a day then?"

Tetsu stopped his mirroring, shoulders slumping, and if he hadn't known better, Barnaby could almost imagine the AI pouting.

"I think we've suitably ruined the place for today darling." 

Origami nodded at Fire Emblems words, "I'm sure we'll get to work together a lot from now on." 

Sky High clapped H-01 on the back, gesturing to Barnaby with his other hand.

"We look forward to working with you again!"

"Same here."

Tetsu mirrored the king of heroes once more, "Me to!"

* * *

“I look intimidating.”

Barnaby laughed, “You certainly have a face only creators could love.”

Tetsu was staring into the folding mirror in the corner of the lab. The AI had never shown any reaction to his own image, but perhaps all the new people he was meeting was driving a form of self consciousness, or even a sense of self.

“Do you… want to change your face?”

Tetsu ran a hand over his features, small clinks sounding as his hand dipped and hit his ‘teeth’. “It could assist in reassuring civilians.”

‘_I still can’t tell if he’s making excuses or really doesn’t care.’_

Regardless, next time he spoke to his parents he brought up he topic of a more friendly exterior, and Rotwang pitched in that an application of artificial skin and hair would be easy. They’d been part of a pet side project, and while they hadn’t been planning on using it on H-01, it was certainly a good test subject. 

Rotwang brought by samples, pigment for skin tone, fibers for hair, glass overlays for eyes, all laid out in sectioned trays.

“If we choose these colours here, it should make it look more conventionally ‘hansom’, that way civilians will be able to relate to it on the field and on TV.”

“If I may.”

Both scientists turned, surprised by the interjection from H-01. H was staring intently at what had been brought in, so Barnaby hazarded a guess.

“Would you like to choose?”

The AI nodded, and started picking over the samples. Rotwang set up a small workstation off to the side of the lab, starting up a burner to heat the latex base. Pigment dyes were added to bring the shade close to the one Tetsu pointed to, before being poured out to cool in sheets. Next he set out several interchangeable metal plates that would attach to the face, and that the latex would be stretched over. There would be obvious seams where each plate sat next to each other, leaving lines in the skin down over his cheeks, and the furthest it would cover would be to the base of his neck.

Barnaby busied himself finishing off the reports from the field training, letting Rotwang work in silence with Tetsu assisting when needed. He could hear the occasional tools clinking, shuffling, and whirring of robotic joints as the hours rolled by. Even when he’d finished the reports, the older scientist had only gotten to setting the hair in place. Barnaby decided to make the delivery to Maverick in person, trusting Rotwang and Tetsu to continue working.

Past the Brooks and the three heroes he’d met, Tetsu hadn’t really tried to talk to other people, and even those conversations were just responses. Maybe he could try talking first for once?

“How has work been?” A good basic starter, right from a text book on socialising.

Rotwang paused from his work, eyeing Tetsu, obviously not expecting small talk.

“…It’s been fine. Production of the robotic frames are reaching final iterations.”

“That’s good.”

The conversation died. Tetsu tried again to break the silence.

“Why did you want to work with robots?”

Rotwang kept working, “Humans are fragile yet violent creatures, and the NEXT mutation just made them more volatile. Androids on the other hand, depending on how we make them, they can be stronger than any disgusting NEXT, all while following their directives to the letter.”

Suddenly the scientist was all Tetsu could see, his face mere centimeters away. With their eyes locked, he realised the use of negative language against NEXT wasn’t something he’d encountered before. Heroes were always praised, and the only other NEXT he knew was Barnaby, though he didn’t remember what power he had.

“The androids developed for the H-01 project will surpass any human and make the heroes obsolete.” Colours shifted as an overlay was slipped over his cameras, “You should do well to remember this, you’ll be the one to lead them and teach them when the time comes.”

Tetsu didn’t know how to reply, and somehow felt that this wasn’t a conversation he wanted to continue anyway. The rest of the work continued in silence again.

When Barnaby returned a few hours later, the installation of Tetsu’s features was complete. Tan skin now covered his face, framed by dark brown hair that was long enough to cover his non-existent ears, looking a bit messy without styling. While the cream metal plates over his eyes were still visible from under the edges of the skin, there was now a golden coloured glass covering the centre focus point, imitating an iris and pupil. The strangest feature was the addition of facial hair, the same brown colour around his chin between the plates, making him appear just that bit older.

Looking him over a few times made Barnaby realise there was something eerily familiar about the look, but more in the sense that you might have seen him before on the street, or someone he’d met when he was younger. Rotwang had agreed, also unable to put a finger on it. They both chose to leave those questions alone, simply watching as the AI looked himself over in the mirror.

When Maverick next visited the lab, his expression soured at Tetsu’s new face, but he never voiced his opinion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cut this one a bit shorter than it originally was. I have no idea what my pacing is like with this but I'm just happy overall to be slapping words down ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ I need to get it done before my brain decides on a sequel. Enjoy! ...or, I dunknow, don't?
> 
> Bonus! An image of Tetsu's new face for your viewing https://sta.sh/0qvkchp621t


	4. Chance Meeting

Most of Barnaby and Tetsu’s days were now filled with training with the heroes. After the successful training out in Bronze, their agreement with HeroTV continued, letting them use Justice Tower and the training grounds with a rotating roster of the six active heroes.

However, as an awkward compromise, the heroes had to wear their masks if they wanted to preserve their identities around the newbies. While Barnaby was using his actual name, and Tetsu didn’t have much of an identity to hide, they didn’t exactly fall into the same non-disclosure as the heroes, meaning it was up to the individual if they wanted to share their civilian identity. When they next went to the tower, they found Sky High in his helmet and a hoodie, and Tetsu made a noise that very much sounded like a snort.

Slowly but surely, the duo met the other heroes, their training sessions changing depending on whose NEXT power was available. They saw less of the younger heroes due to school, but Dragon Kid and Blue Rose were in on weekends for added elemental hazards, and Origami Cyclone was usually put in the middle as the civilian. The combined strength of Rock Bison and Sky High’s wind was used to move rubble and buildings into labyrinths, and all together there was hardly a scenario they couldn’t create.

In between these exercises, Barnaby and Tetsu were spending more time just in the tower as well. The android’s physical abilities were pre-set, but Barnaby had spent more time in front of a computer than working out, and he knew there were improvements to make. So, while he made the most of the equipment available, Tetsu was left to his own devices.

One such afternoon, he found Blue Rose practicing her performance in the recreation room, trying to add in new poses her sponsor had devised. He’d slipped inside, intrigued by the music and singing, and found a spot against the wall to watch. By her expression, he could tell how much effort she was putting into singing, and the joy she was getting out of it, but the moment she went to make one of the elaborate and somewhat _suggestive _poses, her face would drop. The music ended and the young girl let out a sign.

“Good job not falling over.”

Rose jumped at the voice, twisting and putting her arms out in defence. H-01 put his own arms up in surrender, looking to protect his head that was without his helmet. Recognising the suited figure, she lowered her hands and sighed again, fetching her drink and towel.

“It’s rude to spy you know.”

“I didn’t want to interrupt, you were really getting into it.”

She sipped at her water, eyeing the android. Her time training with H-01 hadn’t been long, but she knew enough about his unique angle on rescuing, and his surprisingly friendly attitude to know he probably didn’t mean any harm. Though, it was a little off putting just _how_ friendly he was when he was made of metal and wires.

‘_Surely a robot should be able to give me straight answer.’_

“Well, since you saw, what did you think of my performance? Was it in time?”

He relaxed and stroked his chin.

“Well, I guess the timing was right, but there were some moments in there that you obviously weren’t feeling. You looked like you were enjoying yourself up until then, and then you kinda… dropped.”

That was not the answer she’d been expecting. She’d hoped for some analysis on her performance, not for her emotional state to be picked up.

“Oh. Well, I’m not a fan of the poses my sponsors suggested to add to the performance. They always want to ‘show off’ my ‘best aspects’ while also showing the product, but it just ends with people staring at _me_.” She shivered at the thought.

“Hmm, then why don’t you come up with your own poses? The sponsors wanted new moves and made suggestions, but if you can show off the product in your own way, then they can’t really argue.”

She crossed her arms, considering the suggestion.

“Maybe like uh… this?”

Tetsu struck an awkward pose, pretending to hold a bottle out in front of him. She stared at him, before shyly copying it. There was nothing ‘sexy’ or ‘flirtatious’ about it, and it certainly put the product font and centre, but she shook her head furiously and dropped her posture.

“This is stupid. I’m more interested in being a singer than a hero, and I only signed up because the company promised to promote my songs.”

“So you don’t want to be a hero?”

Her face scrunched up, thinking. She didn’t have a proper answer for that.

“What about you? You were forced to be a hero, right? That’s why they made you. Do you ever think about doing something else?”

Tetsu quietly looked around, as if searching for his answer. He looked back to her after a moment and replied with a rather upbeat tone.

“I really can’t see myself doing anything else. And I’m okay with that.”

Rose stared at him for a long moment, before sighing and waving him away.

“Hm, well I’m going to continue practicing. I’d rather you didn’t keep watching.”

“Alright.”

Tetsu left the rec room, and before he could get far, he found himself being called for by Dragon Kid, who was over with the training dummies. The young hero waved him over, while still jabbing and kicking at the forms.

“Something I can help with?”

“Yeah, I’ve been working on some new moves, but I need someone more solid to try them out with, and Bison isn’t here yet.”

“Oh, easy then. Where do you want me?”

Dragon Kid grabbed onto his arm and dragged him in front of the dummies.

“Okay, now put your arms up like this. Good, so I’ll come at you from the left, so move like you’re going to push me back.”

He slightly dropped the stance, “You know I can’t actually do that?”

“You don’t have to actually push, you’ll just act as a spring board. Get back in your stance!”

Tetsu raised his arms again, holding firm as Dragon Kid charged towards him, electricity running through her body. She jumped, trails of sparks were left behind in foot shapes, and the force of her NEXT power came channelled through her legs as she collided with Tetsu’s arms. The force was surprising for her size, but he held still as the power was mostly absorbed by his suit. She pushed off, flipping backwards to distance herself, however the power of her kick had taken most of her momentum and she stumbled while trying to stick the landing.

The android swiftly moved forward to help her up, giving a few claps once she was steady.

“Nice work! Really flashy, bet it’d look great on TV!”

“I’d rather not land on my butt on TV. I want to try again.”

He nodded and returned to his spot, “When you land, maybe try to roll to the side rather than move back? You won’t need as much force to launch after the kick, but you might be able to get the same distance.”

Dragon Kid grinned and nodded, “Alright, let’s try that then!”

She performed the move again, taking the advice for the dismount. She grabbed his shoulder to help change her direction, partly passing over his head and flipped off to the left, landing a bit closer than before but without falling.

“This could totally work!”

She returned to the start, running the same attack several more times. After several runs of twisting to each side, Tetsu noticed they had a watcher. From around the side of one of the dividers, Origami Cyclone had been spying around the corner.

“Did you want to try it too?”

Origami jumped, and sheepishly came out from his hiding spot.

“Oh, uh well… I was wondering if… you’d help me out as well…”

“Of course!”

Dragon Kid stopped her attacks, the two listening as Origami explained what he wanted to try out. Tetsu continued to help the younger heroes, critiquing on what he could, and eventually called Barnaby over when he’d finished his own workout. After a while, there was a ding as the elevator arrived, and out came Sky High, Fire Emblem and Rock Bison, chatting away.

“It really was something to see! How long did it take to get your horns out this time?”

Rock Bison’s shoulders rose defensively, “Not long at all, look could we drop that already?”

“With your ranking, there isn’t any further you could drop.”

Fire Emblem hid their mouth, laughing as Bison’s posture dropped in defeat. The three came over to join the rest in the training area, and on spotting the new rescue duo, Bison hurried to be away from the harsh comments.

“Hey, how’s it going? Need any help guys?”

Dragon Kid barely paused, “Sure you don’t need the help?”

He tried to stay strong, “H-01?”

The android looked around the group, before landing back on Bison, “I can’t even earn points or punch people, but I still think I’m doing better than your current efforts.”

Bison collapsed to his knees, not having thought the robot would join in on bringing him down. The heroes all laughed, Sky High sympathetically patting his back.

Barnaby watched with a fond smile, realising just how casual the whole situation was, and how _human_ it was. The connections that had grown between Tetsu and the heroes was honest and genuine, and they’d all accepted him as another person and not some warped science experiment. It was unprecedented, and even Barnaby was struggling to figure out what the final outcome would look like. Could they really replicate what Tetsu had become? Did they need to?

Lost in thought, he almost didn’t notice Fire Emblem sliding in beside him.

“Oh hansom~ That’s a beautiful smile you’ve got there.” Fire Emblems hand wriggled out and down, though instead of finding a soft behind, it hit something much firmer. Solid, in fact.

They turned to see not Barnaby, but H-01 standing next to them, who looked back with the usual blank expression.

“Unfortunately, my sensors don’t reach that far down.” 

Fire Emblem didn’t let up, “That’s alright, I’m sure I can teach a machine to love.”

They leaned in close, batting their lashes as Tetsu just laughed. Despite having almost been groped, Barnaby had to laugh a little too. Tetsu turned, and Barnaby could have sworn he saw a small smile on his face.

“Don’t worry Bunny, I’ll protect you no matter what. Even if it means sexual harassment.”

* * *

When his parents dropped by once again, he didn’t hesitate to open the door. With how all the recent training had been going, he felt much more confident in showing off Tetsu and his advancements. Greetings were brief, with the older scientists being swept into the lab where Tetsu was working on a crossword, pen twirling in hand. The AI looked up at the commotion, and while his expression couldn’t change, he instead twisted his posture to be more open as a greeting.

“Oh, good morning Mrs Brooks, Mr. Brooks.”

“Good morning H-01, I hear training has been going well?” Emily moved right up, checking the answers written down.

“It’s been excellent. The range of things I’ve learnt from both the exercises and the heroes themselves is amazing. Experience really is the best teacher, no offence Bunny.”

“None taken, I agree. The data we’ve gained in the last few weeks has given the greatest insight into the real application of the project. He’s excelled in both applying himself in rescuing, and in socialising to make others feel at ease. There’s been plenty of questions of if he’s really a robot.”

Tetsu scratched the back of his neck, an action he now used when acting bashful at praise. Emily began asking about how his body had been handling the training, while Barnaby Snr wrapped a hand around his sons’ shoulder, squeezing firmly, and guiding him to the side of the lab with a gentle push.

“Son, listen.” The older man sighed, levelling his eyes to meet Barnaby’s, “We understand how much time and passion you’ve put into the H-01 project; however, we’re worried you’re losing perspective.”

Confusion spread across his face, “In what way?”

“This AI you’ve made, it’s just that. An AI. Treating it like a person may have helped somewhat with its development, but at the end of the day it’s only a series of zeros and ones making calculated and logical choices.”

He opened his mouth, then closed it. His father wasn’t wrong, and he understood what he was saying, really, but he also knew this was _different._ This was more than school projects or simple task completing AIs, the things Tetsu had done and was still doing, were not logical codded decisions.

Why would an AI not strive for perfect? What would make it purposefully put flaws into its movements and actions? All the work they’d done with the heroes had cemented the deep feeling of difference, that Tetsu’s actions were driven by something more. Why would he choose silly nicknames, take unprovoked jabs at others expense, over exaggerate his movements, pick up strange habits? This was beyond binary decisions.

He fixed his father with a look, smiling with forced precision, “Of course. I’ll keep your words in mind and make sure to stay focused.”

_‘Focused on learning everything I can from Tetsu. Who knows if there’ll ever be a chance like this again.’_

“Wonderful. Maverick will be speechless in the end.”

His parents didn’t stay for much longer after their talk, and Barnaby and Tetsu were left to their own devices.

* * *

Mid afternoon was rolling in as Tetsu and Barnaby, along with Dragon Kid and Rock Bison, were wrapping up their training. They’d been working on rescues in hazard zones, where electricity was coursing through the area, and Tetsu had to judged what would be safe for him to cross, and what would be safe one he was holding a person. Bison would then step in to make more hazards or block a path suddenly. After making quite a mess of the training zone, everyone was helping to clear up, until a pile of rubble began to move, which turned into a significant earthquake rocking their surrounds for a few seconds.

“That wasn’t us, right?” Rock Bison glanced around cautiously.

A call rang out, coming through the hero costume coms.

“Bonjour Heroes!”

Agnes was on the line, a familiar voice to the heroes, but almost unknown to the new rescue duo.

“We’ve got a NEXT causing a ruckus on Silver Stage by Poseidon Line. Police reports are saying the sudden seismic activity is coming from the criminal, and they’re on the move. All Heroes are to move in, but to also be on the look out for civilians in distress due to damages to any of the buildings in the area. H-01, Barnaby.”

“Yes?”

“Damage reports are coming from both higher and lower stages, we’ve gotten permission for you two to be scouting the outer zones in case the destabilisation spreads. Keep channels open and help get people to evacuation zones.”

“Understood.”

“Got it.”

The four split up, the heroes jumping their transport to get to the dangerous NEXT as fast as possible, while the other two chose to go by running and swinging to the closest zone of damage. The were only a few radio calls of damages coming through, but two more earthquakes shook the city before they’d gotten more than a few blocks, and the calls began to increase. Bronze was fairing the best, only dealing with falling debris, so Tetsu and Barnaby moved to Silver, where cracks in buildings were becoming more visible.

A call came through from Sky High, saying he’d spotted the criminal, and Blue Rose responded she was close enough to try cut them off. Another earthquake. Soon it was clear the heroes would be needed to be stretched optimally across the city, and Agnes called in again, directing everyone to the areas of highest risk. There weren’t enough cameras to be filming everyone, the main two staying by the criminal and the closest buildings the heroes were rescuing from. The calls for help meant that even Barnaby and H-01 were asked to split up to cover more ground, the other Heroes vouching that AI had shown it’d be fine alone. Barnaby was reluctant but agreed it would be the best choice. Agnes passed on the coordinates of the entertainment district in Silver Stage for H-01 to cover.

The tremors were still affecting the structures when he arrived, a massive walkway connecting a shopping centre and concert hall was swaying like a branch in the wind. From a near-by ledge, Tetsu could see people fleeing to each side, hurried along by local security. Cracks were beginning to show, and another tremor ran out, finally snapping the span. No one under the bridge, no one on the bridge-

A scream.

On one side a fragment of the bridge had moved faster, slipping out from under a young girl who was suddenly free falling with the debris. Tetsu reacted instantly, firing his wire launcher and swinging in through the concrete and metal to scoop the girl up in his arms. She went quiet after realising the direction she was falling had changed, looking up her saviour. They landed in a small park that had only been covered in dirt from the commotion, and Tetsu knelt to let her down. The girl rolled from his hold, taking a moment to catch her breath and dust herself off briefly before turning and bowing to him.

“Thank you so much mister!”

“…Kaede?”

Her face lit with surprise, not expecting to hear her name.

“Kaede Kaburagi?”

“How do you know my name?”

Tetsu began to shake, the robotic tone somehow draining from his voice to sound so very, _very_ human.

“I’m sorry. Dad is so so sorry, he didn’t mean to leave you alone. You must have been so alone. I’m sorry.”

She froze at his words, heart suddenly twisting at the apology. There was no prompting from the unknown hero, but now he was muttering about how sorry he was, saying that he was her-

Carefully, she slipped open his faceplate. Their eye met, but the face she saw was only kind of familiar, a vague likeness of someone she knew that had been warped and shifted. He covered his face, not looking up.

Meanwhile, Barnaby had waved off the last few citizens as they rushed to the evac zone. His adrenalin was pumping from his first actual field work, and he was glad for a moment to pause and re-group. His thoughts went straight to Tetsu, so he checked his heads-up display for how he was going, but the sight of it made his stomach drop. That nonsensical error was once again filling the output logs, however there were additional lines in between that were just as confusing. The last time it had replicated at that rate, his only option had been to shut the AI down.

He rushed to Tetsu location as fast as he could, darting between buildings and following an internal tracker the suit had. He found the AI hunched over in front of a young girl, who looked extremely confused and worried.

“Are you alright?”

The girl hadn’t even noticed Barnaby approach, jumping at his question.

“I- well- you see, he saved me, but then he said- and he’s going on and on…“

“It’s alright, don’t worry. There’s an evacuation point just down the street from here, do you think you can get there by yourself?”

“I- yes, but what about-?”

“I’m here to look after him, don’t worry, just get to safety.”

She spared another glance to the man on the ground, seriously considering something, before nodding and running off. Barnaby was now left alone with the muttering android running his hand over the ground, the same error and messages repeating over and over, just like when he’d spoken about his NEXT power. Perhaps the girl had something to trigger the reaction.

_‘I’m sorry.’_

The closer he listened, the less it sounded like his normal voice, it was too clear, less metallic.

“Tetsu what’s wrong -“

“Kotetsu.”

“What?”

The dust in front of the android was littered with writing, the same word- name?- repeated over and over.

“Kotetsu Kaburagi. That’s my name. It was- it…oh god what happened? why?why?why?why?”

The clarity and human tone began to leave his voice, and confusion grew, until he said something new.

“wh- Maverick. No please, not again.”

“Tetsu what going on?!”

_“…”_

“Don’t do it again, please.”

H-01 shut down.

...

...

...

...

..

..

..

.

.

.

.

* * *

Barnaby had nothing but questions on the return to the lab, but the still form of H-01 had nothing to give in answer.

“The error, his words, what had he meant? He’d even mentioned Maverick is such a panicked way…”

He returned the android body to his parent’s lab, asking them to run a physical diagnostic after the day’s exploits. They asked what had happened, but he didn’t elaborate. This was something they wouldn’t understand, after how they’d talked against Tetsu’s human nature.

_‘Human…He’d sounded so human…’_

To his biggest surprise, Maverick stopped by his lab not long after he’d returned himself, and a million new questions rushed through his head.

“Wonderful work during the callout today, the Heroes are praising your help. However, I heard that H-01 shut down unexpectedly. Did you see what happened?”

There as a moment where the question hung, and Barnaby had to decide.

“No, Te- H-01simply began outputting an error and eventually shut down. It was the same unknown error I encountered back when sight had been installed. I still can’t decipher its cause.”

Maverick nodded, “Maybe this time we could ask H-01 itself?”

Barnaby silently complied, moving to his computer to boot up the AI. It sounded off the time, date and H-01 designation.

_‘I don’t remember changing that name.’_

“H-01, what occurred before last shut down?”

H-01 whirred, “During rescue procedures, I encountered an error that continued to reproduce, before shut down was initiated.”

“Can you source the error?”

A few more seconds of whirring. “Error parameters are pointing to NULL space. Unable to identify source. Storage fault checks will be run in case of memory corruption. Last recorded log ending yesterday at 8:32:05 AM.”

Maverick seemed to be happy with the response, turning back to Barnaby. “You’ll be able to continue field training for now but no active calls for a while, keep an eye on it. Perhaps put some time into putting a bypass for if the error occurs again?”

Maverick gave a small wave before leaving. There were a quiet few minutes, before Barnaby turned to Tetsu’s screen.

“Did you lie just now?”

The eye cameras swivelled to lock with Barnaby, before moving to stare at the ground.

“What about you?”

Neither spoke to each other for the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Few, thanks for waiting! This took longer than I'd wanted too, because I really wanted to include that first section with the heroes but struggled to get it down. Because of that, lots of words this time! 
> 
> UH OH THERE'S THE REVEAL!  
Sweet lil Kaede is gonna have a crisis. Barnaby too probably...


	5. Things not to do

Barnaby was resting at Justice Tower, skimming over his notes as he waited for Tetsu to be fitted into his suit for their next training session. They still weren’t exactly talking, but after the freak out the AI had, there were too many questions hanging about that neither had answers for.

“Who is Kotetsu Kaburagi?”

He’d only been muttering to himself, but he could simply feel the sudden change in his unintentional watcher. Twisting slightly, Barnaby could see the slack jawed look coming from who he assumed was one of the heroes, who must have been passing through from the showers after training.

“How do you know that name?”

Barnaby went on alert, intrigued by the man’s reaction. “What does it mean to you?”

“I asked first.”

He paused, “H-01 mentioned it.”

“That android?” The man’s face twisted even further, his hand moving to cover his mouth.

“Who are you and what do you know?”

There was a moment, before hero took a seat at the table.

“Rock Bison, well, Antonio.” He looked a little sheepish to admitting his identity, extending a hand to shake. Barnaby slowly accepted the hand.

“I- well-… Look, I’m not sure where exactly your robot buddy heard that name, but Kotetsu and I go way back. We were friend in high school due to uh, unique circumstances, but we lost contact after…”

He paused, searching Barnaby’s face for something, before making a decision.

“We lost contact after he went off and became a hero, the ‘Crusher for Justice’ Wild Tiger.”

Something clicks for Barnaby. While he’d never been a huge follower of HeroTV growing up, it had been a semi large announcement when Wild Tiger had been killed in action. The senior hero had been on the line up for a number of years and had even gotten the ‘King’ title before, and while he’d been known for a lot of collateral damage, he was remembered fondly by those he’d saved. Which overall meant-

Tetsu was claiming to be a dead hero.

He rose from his seat, needing to talk to the AI more than ever. Antonio looked like he wanted to say something more, but Barnaby was already on his phone, dialling down to Saito’s lab. The scientist took only seconds to pick up.

“Saito, sorry but it’s urgent, can you tell Tetsu- H-01 to stay put?”

“Ah, Barnaby. I was just about to call.”

“Why?”

“H-01 said it was experiencing a hardware malfunction not long ago, then excused itself back to the robotics labs.”

_‘Malfunction?’_

He hung up and dialled his parents, changing his own path out. There wasn’t any answer, so he left a voicemail, asking about H-01. He’d gotten to his car and on the road before there was a call back.

“Sorry, we only just saw the missed call, though H-01 certainly did come back. It left the android frame here for a diagnostic check, but it didn’t specify the actual problem.”

“Can you make sure he doesn’t leave?”

There was a small laugh, “It’s already logged out from the body. Unless you’ve set up any other systems with network access, there’s only one place it could go.”

‘_The mainframe. Right.’_ He felt a bit sheepish at his panic, not sure what else he’d thought Tetsu could do without his body. It was only a short drive left back to the labs, where Barnaby made a beeline for his own room. The computer hummed from its position, the cameras not active but the monitor blinking in thought.

“Tetsu, we need to talk.”

Silence.

“Kotetsu.”

“So… you were lying to Maverick.”

“And so were you. You do remember.”

There was an unimpressed sound, he’d never heard the AI snort before.

“No, I don’t remember. But I do have backups of my output logs like any good machine. I have a name. I have a history. There are details missing, but it’s clear that Maverick is keeping that from me.”

Barnaby wanted to argue, but there was too much to consider which stopped him from opening his mouth. Maverick had been a life long friend of the Brooks, having visited their home since he was born, and there was so much the man had done for them and the city. Hero TV had been his project, as had H-01, which left a lot to be considered if something was going on behind the scenes.

On the other hand, from the beginning Barnaby knew Tetsu wasn’t like anything he’d codded before, too many things that just worked, too many mannerisms that he’d developed, too many coincidences. Barnaby didn’t want his work on H-01 to end, he didn’t want to let him go be mass produced, he was too attached.

“We need to think rationally about this.”

“I am being rational. This is what the evidence is pointing too.”

“Why on earth would you have the memories of a dead hero?”

He could see the spike in Tetsu’s processing, “…dead? Hero?”

“The person you say to be was killed while rescuing civilians from a collapsing building.”

“That… hmm…”

“I spoke with Rock Bison, he said he personally knew Kotetsu Kaburagi.”

“…”

“Well?”

“I… I don’t recognise Rock Bison.”

Tetsu went still, thinking hard about the new information.

“And what can you say about Maverick? You called out his name and asked him to stop, why?”

“…I don’t know. He was there, somewhere. There’s a picture in my backups of him smiling, hand reached out.”

“Maverick has been handling HeroTV since its creation. Are you sure the image isn’t from something you’d seen in the archives?”

Tetsu was quiet. He didn’t mean to be discrediting everything the AI said, particularly when Barnaby already felt there was something different about him from other programs, but just outright blaming Maverick seemed wrong too.

“Look, there’s definitely something going on here, but jumping to conclusions isn’t going to help. What we _can_ do, is we can work together to figure out where these ‘memories’ have come from. That strange error probably has something to do with this as well.”

“I… guess so…”

“We’ve come this far in leaps and bounds, what’s a little more team work and investigation?”

The multitude of blank lines meant Tetsu was thinking franticly, and after a few moments he finally spoke.

“I’ll… put my trust in you.”

* * *

For the time being, Barnaby and Tetsu returned to their normal routines. The city of Heroes never slept, and there was still plenty of work to be done with evacuations and crowd control.

That became evident more so when news of a prison break hit the airwaves. There were a dozen villains and petty criminals of the streets now, and most of the Heroes clocked on for patrol. There were no immediate incidents, so Barnaby and Tetsu waited in the tower.

Then came the video. Three culprits claiming to be Ouroboros and a threat of the city held hostage, and several large mechs with weapons aimed directly at the supports holding the entire city. Their leader, _Jake_, jeers as one of his cohorts talks about the Heroes and how if they try to intervene they would bring down the pillars.

Tetsu shifted with what would probably be anticipation as they watched.

“They’re robot suits, I could technically fight them.”

Barnaby sighed, not sure what to make of the strange NEXT villain or Tetsu’s eagerness to fight.

“They’re also twice your height and probably weight a tonne, no one would be impressed if you were turned into a pancake.”

Listening to Agnes, the Heroes were only able to scout the areas the mechs were positioned. It seemed like an impossible situation, until Blue Rose came across a ‘Mad Bear’. She had found the fad toy wandering not far from the mechs position, causing chaos with the already panicked public. When she’d pieced it with a shard of ice, a small radio transmitter had fallen out.

Coupled with the sight of the Mad Bears actually piloting the mechs (“There weren’t even any people inside! I totally could have taken them.” Tetsu had complained.) The idea of jamming a signal to the toys was put into place.

But then Jake calls again.

“One on one!” the NEXT grins, “Winner takes all. If even one hero can beat me, I’ll surrender, promise! But if I can beat the heroes, then you’ll all say goodbye to your cities supports.”

* * *

The fights were not going well. Sky High’s strung up form swayed in the breeze, and Rock Bison’s body remained hunched and motionless off to the side. Barnaby could imagine what the public’s reaction to two of the powerhouse heroes being beaten so easily would be, and what they needed now was for the city _not_ to dissolve into panic. The rest of the league was out doing their best to secure the safety of the pillars that supported the stages, but they needed at much time as they could get for the jammers to work.

‘_They need more time._’

“I’m going out there.”

Barnaby put his helmet on, squaring himself in front of the stadiums entrance.

“You can’t!”

Tetsu stepped in front of him, raising his arm to block the path.

“They need more time to disable the robots around the pillars. If any other hero gets chosen it will take away from their efforts.”

“So, you’re going to throw yourself in front of a guy who beat the king of heroes without breaking a sweat!?”

“If it means helping then yes.” He could see the AI move to protest again, “You will stay here Tetsu. That’s an order. You need to be ready to go and help if this guy chooses to blow the pillars.”

Tetsu remained frozen, unable to disobey. Barnaby moved around him and out onto the field, staring down Martinez. The NEXT villain watched him approach, confused but still smiling.

“Hu? And who are you supposed to be? Are they so desperate they choose to send out some no name in a suit? What a laugh.”

He knew he’d have to take the cautious approach with the NEXT, having seen the speed that the other Heroes were taken down at, and at the fact that neither had managed a hit on the man either. As he squared himself opposite to Jake, the villain mockingly made a ‘come on’ motion, flashing a devilish grin. He charged forward without his power, using what he'd learned in training and from other heroes to gauge Jake's abilities. For every swing and kick, the man simply slipped away, grin growing before he flicked and delivered a blow of his own. The blasts don't come from physical contact, but they feel like being punched by Tetsu and Rock Bison combined and doubled. They dance around each other only for a few minutes, before Jake seems to bore. The next blow hits his chest, and it _hurts._ So he does the only thing he can to defend himself, activating his power. The timer begins in the corner of his HUD, and the pain dulls enough for him to push through, flying at top speed. He puts all his focus into being fast, from how he runs circles around the man to how quickly he could kick his leg and pull it back before Jake could do any damage.

But even at 100 percent speed, nothing gets through. Jake evades every hit, follows every angle he moves at, mockingly yawns when one blast knocks Barnaby flat on his back. He tries to focus on powering through the hits, but hes blown back at every chance. He even tried heightening his senses to look for any kind of tell in how Jake used his power.

Before he knew it, the five minutes ended, and he'd still failed to get close.

"Looks like your out of time."

Jake didn't let up on his attack after that, relentlessly driving Barnaby into the ground.

* * *

From the sidelines, Tetsu was frozen, watching Barnaby lose in the worst way possible.

His fists clenched and unclenched rapidly, while a creaking and _grinding _noise echoed out from his frame as his posture strained. The signals were screaming at him to move, but the order stood like a roadblock. If he had to liken his response to the sight of Barnaby’s form being tossed about like a ragdoll, he was sure he’d be feeling emotional distress. _Extreme_ emotional distress.

Another blow landed, and even from this distance he could see the shard of helmet go soaring away, Barnaby’s wide eye visibly full of _fear._

It was unclear if the resounding crack was audible to anyone else, but in that moment Tetsu found himself able to move again, able to _run._ Jake heard him before he saw him, the green and white suit barrelling in from the sidelines.

“Like rats from the sewer, where do you keep coming from? Not that it matters. After squashing these chumps, one more newbie doesn’t stand much chance.”

Jake grinned, poised to attack as the new comer came into range. However, his expression dropped, and the attack never went off. Confusion, almost panic came across his face.

“What? _WHAT_?! What the hell is wrong with you?!”

H-01 charged recklessly forward, all while yelling like no one had heard before. Jake faltered, letting off attacks that no longer hit their mark, the android moving too haphazardly.

“Why is your head EMPTY?!“

H-01 swung his fist with all the momentum he could muster, knuckles colliding with Jake’s cheek, driving the NEXT into the ground. Seeing the man fall so easily, H-01 let fly more punches, pushing him further into the ground. In that moment, there was nothing but the sound of metal on flesh.

“Tetsu…enough.”

The faint voice was clear as day to the android, freezing him in place once again. After a moment, he turned from the unconscious villain, watching Barnaby rise to his feet. Though the cracked faceplate surprise was clear to see. But also- fear too. Fear directed at him. Repeating the last few minutes, Tetsu wasn’t sure what he’d done. He knew what he’d physically done, but how he’d pushed passed everything to harm a human, and the repercussion of such action, seemed to be lost to him.

Jake was no longer moving.

Everything was still, until the whirring of a helicopter droned louder as it came down. Kriem was shouting something at them, but she was practically leaning out while still trying to steer, swaying the helicopter dangerously. Suddenly, a beam of the stadiums roof came loose from the strong breeze. In a panic Kriem jolted the controls attempting to knock it off course, but it instead hit the propeller, starting a chain reaction as the vehicle tilted back into the rest of the damaged roof. A rain of metal began to pour down over top of the three of them. Tetsu rushed to Barnaby, scooping him into his arms as he rushed from the falling debris, moving back to the sidelines that were still stable.

“-the others…”

Gently sitting him down, Tetsu dashed out again to retrieve the other downed heroes. As he returned to the field, the helicopter struck the ground, blowing debris and dust in plumes that filled the space. Used to adverse conditions, Tetsu was still able to move through the mess, plucking Sky High from his bounds and returning him back to a safe distance. Scanning the field, he could see that Rock Bison was far enough away to avoid the mess of metal, but amongst the new, growing flames, he could make out the body of Kriem. As he dashed in, he had to twist parts of the helicopter to free her, shielding her from as much of the heat as possible as she to was moved to the sidelines. He returned to the field once more, but this time there wasn’t much else to find. He couldn’t see where he left Jake’s body, and the growing pile of scrap metal was further covering the field. He made the choice to return to the others, leaving the remains to burn.

He helped the four away from the field, carrying Barnaby protectively as he called through to Agnes for assistance. She filled him in on the success of the other heroes destroying the remaining robots, however there was apprehension in her voice.

Help soon arrived, and each of the injured heroes were helped into an ambulance and rushed to the hospital. However, H-01 was asked to stand down. He’d been protective of his partner since scooping him up into his arms, but the number of times he could see fear on faces of those around him, he realised it was in his better judgement to let go for now. He watched as the four vehicles left, the one holding Kriem under heavy guard.

Not long after, an order came through for H-01 to return to the labs. Details of the broadcast were spreading throughout the city, and everything had gone into damage control with the amount of panic still brimming. Walking himself back, Tetsu arrived alone, and continued alone as scientists and engineers avoided him.

The Brooks smiled when he reached their lab, but their apprehension was clear. The AI had saved their son, but it had also broken a fundamental rule of robotics to do so. Could it, and would it do it again?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. Hyper-fixation betrayed me and I switched fandoms. But this was 80% written, so I'm gonna damn well post it, I've just gotta fill in the gaps with whatever I can.   
One more chapter to go!


End file.
